I made this video as an independent project while a junior Film and Media Culture major at Middlebury College. It was made, partly, in response to several interesting ideas proposed by my project advisor, Chris Keathley, that dealt with the disjunction of sound and image, as well as the video essay as a means of personal expression. The other inspiration came from Chris Marker’s “Sans Soleil” (the film’s title is derived from a line in that film), as well as the personal work of Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin. It was slated to screen at an exhibition of independent film work at Middlebury, but I declined to show it for personal reasons. I now, however, feel comfortable showing it to whomever cares to view it.

This film is my own meditation on my family’s history, as well as my place within that history. I tried to make the audio mirror the images in the beginning of the film, but as it goes on the audio and image become more disjointed, forcing the viewer to question the relationship between the two. I hope you enjoy.

There are some things that I like about multiplexes. I know that there are a litany of complaints by people who argue that multiplexes are destroying America’s cinematic culture, by promoting a type of cinema that appeals to a mass audience. And they kill small films because, with space at these large movie theaters taken up almost exclusively by large Hollywood films, it makes it hard for a film to turn a profit, or even get screened in some markets.

All of those things may be true, but they’re just so hard to not admire. I mean, an enormous temple dedicated to film. How can you not love that? Or, at the very least, how can you fully despise that? I love walking through the doors of a large movie theater and being hit with a blast of cool air accompanied by a whiff of overpriced popcorn. I love the kids lining up for the latest animated offering and even the defeated look of the parents as they look at each other with a glance that says that they’d really rather be seeing something else. I love the big, captain’s chair seats the are perched in the steep, stadium like theater set-up. It makes seeing a film incredibly comfortable and appealing. It makes it easy to forget the problems that await your return to the daylight after 2 hours in the comforting, dark womb of the theater. Continue reading →